Pakistan crypto value held increases 711 percent to 20 billion USD

As per the Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry report, Cryptocurrencies and property remained top-performing assets in Pakistan this year, with the country recording a crypto value of $20 billion in 2021, an amount in excess of current federal reserves.

“Pakistan crypto value recorded around $20 billion 2020-21, showing an abnormal increase of 711 percent,” the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the country’s top trade body, said in a new research report.

Eventhough cryptocurrencies are not legal in Pakistan this has not stopped its growth in the country. In addition Rain Financials which owns Rain crypto exchange based out of Bahrain, also announced it would launch its crypto exchange in Pakistan.

Pakistan ranked third place after Vietnam and India as per the Global Crypto Adoption 2020-2021 by Chainalysis.

Cryptocurrencies have thrived during the coronavirus pandemic, the federation said, adding: “The biggest crypto exchange used by Pakistani investors is Binance, which is headquartered in Cayman Island, whereas other renowned platforms include Localbitcoins.com, Binomo and others.”

About 67 percent of crypto investors in Pakistan use centralized services, whereas only 33 percent use decentralized financing platforms for crypto-related transactions.

While Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province unanimously passed a resolution to legalize cryptocurrency in December 2020 and formed an advisory committee in March 2021, it acknowledged that the ultimate decision on digital currency could only be taken by the federal government.

The FPCCI has demanded a national cryptocurrency strategy, saying there should be a proper regulatory framework to adopt the new financial ecosystem at the earliest to safeguard people’s economic interests and minimize the vulnerabilities of the new system.

There are more than 5,000 cryptocurrencies in circulation worldwide. These virtual or digital currencies are based on blockchain technology, which is a decentralized ledger of all transactions across a peer-to-peer network.

“Amongst major asset classes used by local investors, cryptocurrency and property remained the best performing asset classes in Pakistan in 2021,” Topline Securities, a major brokerage house in Karachi, said in a report.